ECOSOPHIA. Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, Mindaugas Bačkus, cello - Julija Andersson, Tomas Cinelis, violin

4th Music Festival "The Play of Sparkling Sparks"
MUSICA NATURAE

Ecosophy - a wise balance with nature

Performers: Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra
Mindaugas Bačkus, artistic director, cello
Julija Andersson, Tomas Cinelis, violin

Programme: 

Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė - "Crossroads Rites" for cello and orchestra
Astor Piazzolla - "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires " for violin and orchestra
Max Richter - Vivaldi recomposed "The Four Seasons"  for violin and orchestra

MUSICA NATURAE: GENESIS - METAMORPHOSIS - ECOSOPHIA - DIS(U)TOPIA - is a cycle of four artistic concerts, consisting of a musical journey that aims to draw attention to the beautiful but fragile world around us.

www.ziezirbos.lt

"An orchestra is an organism whose main mission is to spread the ideology of beauty and meaning through music." – Mindaugas Bačkus, artistic director of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, cellist, performing as a soloist and member of ensembles and orchestras. His musical interests are extremely broad: from Baroque to contemporary works, from traditional cello sounds to electroacoustic experiments and participation in theater projects. Bačkus graduated from the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Gymnasium, then the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music. He also studied at the Royal College of Music in Manchester (Great Britain) and took masterclasses in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The cellist has played in the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, the Lithuanian and Vilnius chamber orchestras, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Chordos string quartet, and since 2006 has been a member of the Nepaklusniųjų ansamblis ensemble. With these ensembles, he has participated in festivals in Lithuania, the United States, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Norway. After M. Bačkus became the artistic director of the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, over 500 concert programs were prepared with world-renowned performers both at the Klaipėda Concert Hall and other concert halls in Lithuania and abroad. On his initiative, the Klaipėda International Cello Festival and Competition was held in 2017 and 2019, and the Klaipėda International Cello Academy was held in 2018. In 2019, M. Bačkus was awarded the title of Master of Culture of Klaipėda.

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Julia Andersson is one of the most prominent violinists and violists of the younger generation in Lithuania. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, Tonhalle in Zurich, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, St. Martin in the Fields in London, Usedomer Musikfestival, Flanders Festival Ghent, Pärnu Music Festival, Odessa Classics Festival, and elsewhere. Julija's artistic activities are extremely diverse: she performs as a soloist, a member of Duo Andersson, and a soloist with the Vilnius ensemble NIKO (founded and directed by Gediminas Gelgotas). In 2024, Julija founded the Alanta Music Festival, and since 2023 she has been a lecturer in violin at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Julija regularly collaborates with internationally renowned Lithuanian and foreign performers: conductor Kristjan Järvi, Quotuor Akilone, cellists David Gering, Vytautas Sondeckis, Mindaugas Bačkus, pianist Alexey Botvinov, double bassist Roman Patkoló, mandolinist Avi Avital, violinist Mari Samuelsen, trumpeters Sergey Nakariakov, Ole Edvard Antonsen, saxophonist Marius Neset, and others. J. Andersson also performs with the most important Lithuanian and foreign musical ensembles: the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (MDR), the Animato München orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Vilnius City St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra, the Vilnius City Choir Jauna muzika, the Šiauliai State Choir Polifonija, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and others.

J. Andersson began playing the violin at the age of six. In 2019, she obtained a master's degree from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (in the class of Prof. Dr. Rūta Lipinaitytė-Savickienė), and in 2017-2018 she interned at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, at the Edsberg Institute (in the class of Prof. Per Enoksson). J. Andersson is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (under the supervision of Doc. Judita Žukienė and Doc. Dainius Puodžiukas).

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The Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra (KKO) is one of the most dynamic professional chamber orchestras in Lithuania. With carefully curated programs and inspiring interpretations, the KKO actively seeks to stimulate and educate its audience by presenting a wide range of musical styles and genres from different eras, establishing new traditions of orchestral concerts in the port city.

From the very beginning, the professional growth of the ensemble and the quality of its sound were in the hands of talented string players. The orchestra was founded in 1992 by violist Liuda Kuraitienė. An even greater impetus towards professionalism was given to the ensemble in 2009 when cellist Mindaugas Bačkus, one of the most prominent and versatile musicians of his generation, became its artistic director. He views his work with the orchestra as "a way of life, a philosophy of relationship with music, a creative community." The orchestra pays particular attention to educational programs, as this is another way to spread the love of classical music and inspire a new generation of musicians and listeners. As the repertoire expands, so does the orchestra's touring geography: it has visited many festivals in Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, and other foreign countries. It has performed at the Gaida festival in Lithuania, Murten Classics, Montreux, and Klangatrisch.